Author: littleleafcrochet

Its Beanie Season! And one my of my favorite things to crochet. There are endless patterns (free and paid) to choose from. The colors choices and combinations of course go on and on. But then Pom or no Pom? Fur pom or yarn pom? Whatever you decide beanies are quick and easy and are great for craft shows and gifts. I picked a few patterns I wanted to share with you!

Little Monkeys Crochet has a beanie that I fell in love with. It’s not crocheted in the traditional fashion of in the round from top to bottom or bottom to top, it’s crocheted very differently. You start at the top in the round, but after your third row, you chain and rest turns in to this beautiful pattern of bean stitches and camel stitches all incorporating both the brim and the body of the hat. This beanie can be fitted, slouched or even a bun beanie. And the messy bun beanie used a hair elastic! That’s why I loved it. Three hats in one pattern! Head over to Little Monkeys Crochet and check out Her Malia Beanie patterns. I made both a bun beanie (white – left) and a fitted bean with a fur pom (rose – right).

Yarnspirations has a Twisted Cable beanie that’s crocheted from the bottom up. I liked this one because I loved the crochet cables. This free pattern can be found on both Ravelry or Yarnspirations. And there is even a video tutorial which helped me understand a lot of the rows where the cables were made. I used two different yarns for each hat. The hat on the left used Lion Brand Scarfie in charcoal. I loved the softness and ombre effect I got. I topped this one with a silver faux fur pom. The hat on the right I used Caron Simply Soft Tweeds in off white and complimented it with a warm brown faux fur pom. I’ve already got my eye on that Caron Simply Soft Tweed in the Taupe for another beanie! I purchased my faux fur poms from a local Etsy seller. You can find her shop here.

A friend asked for a hat set for her and her daughters. She mentioned she had a hat she already had and loved, but it was getting very old and probably wouldn’t survive the season. Checking my go to place, Ravelry, I found this Pearl Puff Beanie and it matched her current hat almost identically. She requested the bow addition to hers and the the girls. When creating the smaller beanies, I just chained less and omitted a row or two. Here you have mom size, child size and toddler size. All three of these were crocheted using I love this Yarn found at Hobby Lobby in Ivory Tweed with matching bow, Dark Country Blue with a Light Peach bow and Greybeard with the bow in Rosy Cheeks. I love how the two puff stitches together form hearts. Its a nice fitted hat with some give and stretch where needed.

I could crochet beanies all week. I like to crochet large projects too, but I prefer smaller ones, like beanies, where I can get one or two done in the evening after work and feel a little accomplishment for the day. 😉

Do you have something about Christmas that is your absolute favorite? Something that you can look at over and over again no matter how many times or how many variations, that just fills your face with smiles? For me, its Snowmen. I love Snowmen so much and they are my favorite decoration for Holidays and Christmas time. I have snowmen ornaments and snowmen stocking hooks. Snowmen decor for outside. Snowmen decor for in the house. A few years ago, I painted a ceramic with a Mom snowman and two babies.

I’ve scanned through Ravelry and found so many crocheted snowmen and I just want to crochet them all! I had an idea to find a mini version and create one for each of my team members at work to gift with a Christmas card. I thought it would be a nice warm addition to their cube for the month and maybe put a smile on their face. So I found this little Scarfed Snowman on Ravelry and made a bunch. My kids even loved them so they were included in the count. Each is crocheted in one piece, so NO sewing! I prefer that method myself. I love how the bottom half of the body has a little more texture. And then a simple single crochet hat and a braided scarf in fun colors. Quick whip stitch eyes and you’ve completed him!

Lumi the Lovely Snowman by The Craft Fox Crochet was just released this week on her Etsy Shop and I had to create her immediately. I find her vintage look adorable.

This pattern used chunky yarn for the hat and scarf. In my picture I used two strands of worsted weight yarn to get the same affect. Her pattern is very easy to follow and she stands about 10 inches tall depending on your gauge, hook and yarn choices.

Lastly, Oatmeal the Snowman, created by Made By Mary, was another must for me because he has a complete body! I love his cartoonish look. And her pattern was expertly and cleverly created. I actually said “oh wow, what a cool way to assemble him!” when I read through the pattern. He has feet and thumbs! And a cute, round nose. His bobble hat and scarf were a nice touch. He stands about 10 1/2 inches tall.

There are couple other snowmen patterns I want to try. But I will be making many more of these three over the next few weeks for orders and gifts. Check them out, you will love them.

After having made Repeat Crafter Me‘s super owl scarf, I had some yarn left over and thought my client, liking owls so much, would also like a at little friend. So I created one!

Pattern By Repeat Crafter Me

But let’s talk about the scarf first. SO MUCH FUN! And easy! The scarf calls for chunky yarn and my client wanted peaches and corals. I couldn’t find a yarn locally that carried a variation of these colors, so I ordered some simply chunky from from Paint Box. I have been wanting to try this yarn for a while. And I am glad I did. My recommendation? Try this yarn! The yarn was reasonably priced and even coming from overseas, shipping was rather quick! The feel of the yarn is very soft and the color is very vibrant.

The scarf is worked in two pieces beginning with the owl and then stitched together using the mattress stitch giving it a seamless look.

Since I learned my client loved owls, and I had extra yarn I didn’t know what else I would make with it and didn’t want to waste it. I created her an amigurumi owl to match with her scarf. My daughter saw the completed owl and wanted one of her own, so I created her an owl as well using regular worsted yarn. So out came two sizes!

My Grandma introduced me to crochet when I was around ten. She made so many afghans, and pillows and towels. And even at ten years old, I tried it, and lost interest quickly. I’ll always remember that moment when she taught me how to chain and know that was the seed that was planted and sprouted into my crochet adventures today! So Milli Owl was born, named after Grandma and the pattern is free!

I have lots of ideas in my head. I have been wanting to create patterns for awhile and many things have kept me waiting. First fear, yes fear!, of not being confident enough in what I could create. I guess that’s the norm when you are starting out. Everything is new and unknown But I have to try, right? Then there is the time not only creating, but writing it all down and making sure its usable and understandable. But I have lots of wonderful crochet bloggers who I’ve learned a lot from.

I was crocheting another great designers pattern when a simple easy idea formed in my head. I immediately created it and wrote it all down. Then I used my own pattern to create it again and it seemed to flow nicely. I then asked a couple fellow crocheter friends to test my pattern and report back to me her critique, corrections, etc. Edits could still be made, so please let me know you see anything wonky!

I am pleased to announce my Pumpkin Ridge Cozy! I decided to start small and simple with my 1st pattern. But this is huge for me! I absolutely love fall and all things fall. When this pattern came about, I thought of a pumpkin sitting on a fence and I feel that’s exactly what I created. I hope you like it too.

Since starting Little Leaf Crochet, I have met some great people and discovered some amazing makers. I love that as I grow I can support others to grow too. I wanted to share with you some of my recent loves.

First, as a new blogger and crocheter, I needed a logo. I love pink and green and oddly enough I also love Fall, so I combined my favorite colors with leaves. And the staple crochet hook of course! Working with a designer I found on Etsy, WhimsicalLogoShop was an absolute pleasure. She worked with me on color tone, style and many changes. I later contacted her for more upgrades and additional files and she was quick to respond and very helpful in explaining to me on how to use my logos.

As you have seen from some of my posts, I have a growing custom crochet hook collection. Some I use all the time and others I consider too precious and they are on display in my home. In my logo is a crochet hook and, for me, I believe the crochet hook is the main symbol of crochet. I have purchased many hooks from many makers. All are amazing and unique and expertly crafted. Featured here are my Midas Touch Gold Leaf Ergo hooks from HarperBabyshop I love the comfort and the style and my two custom slim hooks “Believe” and “Live Laugh Love”. Angie is a great artist and a very sweet person I have loved getting to know.

I recently saw a giveaway for a wood logo where the maker burned the birch with the design. I immediately had to have one. What a unique and clever way to display your logo organically. Rachel at WoodBurnCorner did an amazing job. You should check her work out. She has a variety of items she can customize for you on beautiful wood pieces.

Being a crocheter, I wanted to label my work in some way. Whether hats or sweaters or afghans. I purchased two forms of doing this. Fabric labels and wood button labels. Both turned out amazing and I am so happy using them. I got my wood tags from MapleAndRose and the fabric labels from BorderCityQuilts. Both shops were very easy to work with and made sure I would be happy with my order before they began to make them.

Thanks for letting me share with you some amazing makers. Maybe I will do this more often. The world is full of talented and hard working people. They all deserve to be featured!

I recently purchased this blocking kit on Amazon by The Humble Crafter. I have never blocked anything that I crocheted before, but recently working on different blocks for crochet alongs I have been participating in, I needed to try it.

This kit comes in a few different colors, blue, green, yellow and pink. I went with the pink kit. The entire kit arrived fast. I ordered on a Friday and it arrived on a Sunday!

I felt the price of $24.99 was decent for all that was included. The retail price was listed at $55. The kit included 9 blocks that could be arranged to fit your work, 100 T pins in a storage box and a handy measuring tape. I purchased an inexpensive water spray bottle at my nearest Walmart (not shown).

I really liked the guidelines on the blocking mat so I could make sure my work was straight. The blocking mats are thick and sturdy.

I love that the block are arrangeable for any size project. You can see I have two different size crocheted panels on here at the same time. The guidelines were helpful for me to get my work straight and square. I just spritzed my work and let air dry.

I am very happy with this kit and will be using it a lot in the coming weeks while will I crochet more panels for my current crochet a long with Chaos and Chop Suey. The two panels you see are from that pattern. Check it out.

My first ever graph-gan (an afghan crocheted from a chart or graph) crochet along has come to an end. I never thought I would do one. It didn’t interest me until I was invited to join in on one. I’m glad I got that invite!

I had fun. I really did. I loved the show and re-watched it while crocheting on Netflix. I learned a new stitch that I originally found intimidating. But once I got the hang of it, I found myself enjoying it and making other items for myself. Each block popped in the bobble stitch. The bobbles gave the graphs an extra punch.

The only con I have to share is that the bobble stitch is time consuming and a major yarn hog, but it is worth it. Don’t be afraid to try it. I know you will be happy you did. Brittany at Bhooked Crochet has a great tutorial on youtube.

I am now ready to begin my next CAL with Chaos and Chop Suey and her Grease Themed graph-gan! I will be using the same yarn, because it truly is great yarn, and a different stitch. Mini C2C.

I have been invited to participate in a project for a great cause and I am so excited. This is the first project I have ever been invited to with a group of crocheters and I am honored.

I am one of 35 makers, each crocheting 1 block of a 35 block afghan that will be raffled off later this summer and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to St Jude’s Children’s Hospital. This is such a great project and a great mingling of ideas and minds. Our afghan is going to be gorgeous and we can’t wait for all of you to see.

Follow our group @MakersGiveBack on Instagram or my page here for more details as they come available. You will see sneak peaks of the blocks in progress, finished blocks, and more details about the project.

This is for a great cause and one close to home to me. My own children were in the hospital after birth and we are blessed today that they are healthy and happy and probably my biggest customers. 🙂

Having only started my blog less than a year ago, this is the goal I had in mind. Working and crocheting with other like-minded artists. Doing things for good, meeting great people and doing what I love best. Crocheting!